Irrigation designers encounter a wide variety of complex challenges. These include dirty water sources, unmapped infrastructure, inefficient application, short water windows, mixed hydrozones, and shrinking budgets. You must consider such factors to design a well-functioning and long-lasting system.
Often, customers only pay attention to their irrigation systems when something goes wrong.
Here are a few common concerns:
- “There’s a geyser in the park lawn!”
- “The sidewalks are wet.”
- “There’s runoff going into the gutter.”
- “The sprinklers look like a misting system.”
- “The irrigation controller is too complicated.”
We’ve all heard these complaints from green space observers. Unfortunately, they can lead to the flawed belief that irrigation systems are wasteful. This may be true for older irrigation devices. But most modern systems efficiently apply and manage water throughout the landscape. These systems provide many advantages to communities.
A well-functioning and well-maintained irrigation system is rarely noticed. But its effects create benefits enjoyed by all. Some of these include:
- Supporting green infrastructure and the ecosystem services created by such spaces
- Providing food and habitat for urban wildlife
- Producing shade and oxygen
- Offering places to exercise, play, and learn
- Creating green space healing effects
- Increasing property values
- Promoting carbon sequestration (removing CO2 from the atmosphere to reverse climate change)
- Enabling phytomitigation (an ecological clean-up technique)
It’s easy to understand the immense beneficial impact of properly irrigated spaces. So how can you communicate the importance of irrigation to influencers?
For your next project, consider sharing your irrigation story. Take advantage of social media. Speak directly with project owners. Reach out to local news outlets and elected officials. Convey the importance of irrigated areas and the professional skills needed to execute such work.
Talk about the journey the irrigation water takes. Discuss your responsibility to invest in the landscape. Explain how your product choices will help irrigation managers succeed. Post informational signage to educate the public. Finally, share the wide-ranging dividends that water investment provides. These strategies can help community members make better choices about irrigation.
Celebrating these accomplishments increases the perceived value of irrigation investments. Sharing the project story lets you educate stakeholders about your design choices. It combats negative connotations about irrigation. It also helps educate the public on efficient irrigation practices. This creates added value for the industry and the spaces irrigation systems support.
Do you have an irrigation success story you want to celebrate? We’d love to hear it! Share your story by submitting your project here.